486 [Senate 



wheel from house to house, on the social occasions 1 Indeed, I know 

 of one. But since the introduction of machinery to take the place 

 of hand labor, the spinning of wool, cotton and flax, in a domestic 

 way, has become quite unfashionable, even in the most retired dis- 

 tricts of the country. 



It would be a Herculean task to introduce the manufacture of wool, 

 cotton or flax, into the families even of the wilderness, without meet- 

 ing at the very threshold the objection, "that it would cost ten 

 times more to manufacture the article in our houses, than it could be 

 purchased for at the stores." Here the good man of the house is 

 brought to a dead stand with his wife and daughter, who do not take 

 into consideration that one pound of silk may be worth one hundred 

 pounds of flax ; while the difference in the cost of production is such 

 as to be greatly in favor of the silk crop — almost equal to the differ- 

 ence between one cent and one dollar. The labor required is light 

 and pleasant, and much more profitable than the usual crops; this is 

 confirmed by the returns made to the New-England silk convention. 

 Taking into view the whole circumstance and condition of the coun- 

 try, does not the culture of silk merit the attention of the public, not 

 only as a source of private emolument, but of great public utility, to 

 raise and manufacture our own silk, as well as wool and cotton 1 

 That the culture of silk has been remunerating and profitable, is evi- 

 dent from the great length of time it has been cultivated, and we are 

 not entirely destitute of encouraging evidences at home. As well at- 

 tested facts are desirable, I venture to mention the following among 

 the testimonials of recent occurrence. 



A gentleman of undoubted veracity and high standing, wrote me, 

 in substance, that he had a lot of mulberries, two years old, set 

 upon two acres of land ; that the land would not ordinarily yield 

 over 40 bushels of corn to the acre ; that he had kept an accurate re- 

 gistry of expenses : that after feeding the worms and reeling the silk, 

 he had a nett profit of two hundred dollars : that each tree had 

 yielded him an income equal to that of thirty cents placed at annual 

 interest. 



This result evidently shows, that there is an intrinsic value in the 

 mulberry tree for growing silk, without taking into consideration the 

 probable value of the after foliage or bark of the trees for important 

 uses, which it is hoped another year's experiments may demonstrate. 



Some mulberry trees, when the roots have attained five or six years, 

 yield abundance of good seed. Several pounds have been saved for 

 future use, and some fine plants, from seed sown last spring, have 

 been raised, which develop a leaf like the original. That there is 

 a difference in the quality of foliage for producing silk, results from 

 two experiments, which came under my observation, will prove: one 

 of which was purposely made by Mr. Theodore Bartlett, of 

 Northampton, to ascertain the difference of quality, if any. The 

 worms fed, were of the same kind and hatching, — all fed with equal 

 attention ; one parcel was fed exclusively upon the foliage of one 

 variety of mulberry, and the worms were of larger size, and the 

 cocoons adjudged to be one-third larger or heavier than the cocoons 



